Joint-plate for rails.



No. 777,255. I V PATENTBD DEC. 13, 1904 J. S. HOERNER.

JOINT PLATE FOR RAILS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 23, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

WITNESSES.-

W26 Wm INVENTOR.

Patented December 13, 1904.

,NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN S. HOERNER, OF HIGHLAND, ILLINOIS.

JOINT-PLATE FOR RAILS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 777,255, dated December 13, 1904.

Application filed March 23, 1904. Serial No. 199,536 (No modeLl To a whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN S. Hosanna, of Highland, in the county of Madison and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Joint-Plate for Rails, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention is designed to provide a plate that is adapted to be inserted between the ends of two rails to iill up the space that might be caused by imperceptible sagging or from some other cause.

This device is expected to be made in different thicknesses, so as to fill up approximately any distance between the ends of the rails, and is expected to prevent the clicking and pounding that is caused by these breaks in the tracks and to make travel of the car more smooth and lessen the wear and tear on the tracks and the rolling-stock.

The device is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is an elevation of a rail-joint with the joint-plate in position. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 2 in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a perspective of one of the plates.

In the drawings the rails 10 are connected by the usual fish-plates l1 and the bolts 12.

In the space between the ends of the rails is inserted the plate 13, which is in its upper portion of the same contour as the section of the rail and has a tongue 14 of approximately the same shape as the web of the rail, but slightly shorter, and is adapted to bear against the inner sides of the fish-plate 11. The plate rests, as at 15, on the upper edges of the fishplates and is supported at these points when the train passes over. It will be seen that these plates can be made of different thicknesses to meet approximate openings and. may vary all the way from one-eighth to onehalf of an inch in thickness.

The narrow extension 14 passing down between the fish-plates and the ends of the rails braces the joint-plate and holds it in place. It will also be evident that the joint-plates can be made to conform in shape to any kind or shape of rail, whether railroad or streetcar rail; but they are adapted to be made in a shape that will allow of their ready inser tion or removal, so that they can be replaced if the space between the rails widens or becomes narrower.

It will be noticed that the tongue 14 oi my joint-plate does not extend below the rai1-bottom and so the plate can move back and forth with the rails and the joint is always perfect. It the plate extends down below the rail-bottom, so as to engage the sleeper or other obstruction, this action would be interfered with.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent The combination with adjacent track-rails and the fish-plates connecting them, of a joint plate shorter than the height of the rails and adapted to lit between them, said plate having its head portion of a cross-section similar to that of the rails and its tongue portion shaped to lie between the fish-plates.

JOHN S. HOERNER.

1 Witnesses:

Tnno. SCHMIDT, J. l. STREUBER. 

